Republicans' motivation for not adequately funding Amtrak?

[emsimon33]

Given how poor the rail service is in this country and how strong and steadfast the Republican Congress is in underfunding Amtrak, I wonder if their lust for privatization is the only motivator.

Amtrak is not only profitable but a major means of transportation in the northeast (Democratic territory) and, at least in parts of California (also Democratic territory), a welcome alternative to the car or plane (although our service is far more spotty than in the NE corridor).

Would Republicans be so quick to underfund Amtrak if Amtrak were a major means of transportation in a few red states?

I wonder... .

[SummerSnow]

1. working people take Amtrak , so they don't care

[JeffHead]

3. And amtrak has Union employees so they care even less. nt

[Populist_Prole]

11. Major Bingo

Plus it's a "guvmint" agency. Put those two together, and it's evil incarnate to the bastards.

[gvstn]

2. My vague understanding on the decay of our railroads

From them being everywhere to having the rails ripped up on perfectly serviceable lines was Big Oil and the Automotive industry pushed for less rail and more highways. More profit for them.

We didn't use to ship all goods by truck. The bulk of the transportation of goods was by train and then truck the last little distance.

I could be completely wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading somewhere.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. All the Frieght Rails want this puppy put to death.

The Big Bosses at the Freight Rails really are pissed they have to allow Amtrak right of way on their Rails. Hey,these slugs charge a higher fee per mile that what they use for their own charge accounting. BTW,when there is a derailment on a class 1 rail,Amtrak pays the cleanup bill. That's why they have a lousy P&L.

[emsimon33]

5. Interesting! We are fighting the building of a rail spur here

The spur will enable tar sands from Canada to be shipped down the coast of California by rail to a refinery here on the central coast.

So, if I understand you correctly, if the oil train explodes, Amtrak is billed for the clean up since Amtrak also run on the Union Pacific tracks?

Can you a cite a source as this will be great ammunition for those of us against bringing in the tar sands as opposed to Phillips refining California oil for which the refinery was built but which costs more per barrel than the tar sands crude.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Just finished a bit of research on this and

found that as of 1990,if a derailment causes environmental risk or harm,the Feds get involved and may pick up the tab under certain circumstances. Generally this happens when the Freight Carrier taps out on their Insurance Coverage per indecent. Only time Amtrak gets hit is if they,and this would be in the North East Corridor where they own the trackage,and that would be if the derailment was the result of a track maintenance issue.

As far as the Canadian Oil train wreck,that was a CP Rail origination train that was handed off to a smaller regional Rail Operator and from there it went downhill from there. Mostly outdated Motive Power and the reliance on a single person operating crew. That Rail Company had a 25 million Insurance cap and the expected total cleanup will be something in the neighborhood of 200 million plus two years to do the job. Needless to say,they filed Bankruptcy and the Local Province and City will have to pick up the tab.

The Georgia Oil Train wreck is a mess,environmentally you can bet the Corp of Engineers will end up doing the clean-up and the Rail Operator will just collect on their Insurance Policy for the lost of their equipment. As far as the Crude is concerned it depends,if the end using has shippers Insurance they collect,if not let someone else worry about it. The Lawyers are always working the billable hours thing anyway.

[TheHardWay]

6. Depends on your perspective...

Looking at the question "Would Republicans be so quick to underfund Amtrak if Amtrak were a major means of transportation in a few red states?" - I have to first ask how coal and natural gas get transported from where it is produced (this is not a smartass/taunt question... I really do not know other than what I imagine to be by rail on how that stuff gets moved around) to where it is consumed. I have heard stories about the wealthy buying up the rails, then holding competitor's goods up before reaching market.
I believe the red states enjoy the same needs as "people transport" in the blue states, but I agree I could be factually wrong, I've not looked too far into it...

But all this skirts the problem, or the reality of the question... What if we took the republican point of view... that the only "people" who should be allowed to make the rules for business are the "People" that Mitt called corporations. In other words, the wealthy and the business class want government and people to but out completely...(public:KEEP YOUR NOSES OUT) (i.e. No Regulation)

America has, for the most part, bought the story that the only way to get government to work well is to think of it like a business or run it like a business. But this practice proves to break down once you enter the human element into the equation... You get strikes... In both public and private... The workers are slowly treated like dirt, they raise their hands to better their condition and either the union caves to pressures or their demands are met and life is brought back to normal for a while until a word savvy business type reads the new regulations and begins bending those in some slight or overt manner.

To the republican, the perfect world would be one in which human/government and business are two separate entities that do not mix...
Or whatever this guy is saying in this Interview:
[link:https://soundcloud.com/nicole-sandler/we-dont-need-democracies-and-people-getting-in-thte-way?in=nicole-sandler/sets/an-interview-with-david|
... or what he said here:
[link:http://ourfuture.org/20150409/why-we-need-more-government-not-less|

Anyway, how I tie this into the specific question... think about it... now that there is less money all around, this might be a good time for business to profit by firing higher priced public workers? Repubs like making individual business owners of us all, doing nothing but commerce, using any means necessary, as dirty as necessary to make a profit (as the SCOTUS has affirmed is their sole purpose for existing)...

However...because the public is lax on such rules we allow "industry leaders" to head the committees at nearly every level of government (and they can afford it) even the office of the Vice President.


I don't know if this makes any sense or adds to the conversation, but hope that it can lend a POV that is clearly what the corporations are doing every day of the week.

Cheers all

(P.S. As though, by reducing the size of these departments or those departments eventually, the business would be outside of regulation... And Republicans would be very happy)

[emsimon33]

7. Thank you for your thoughtful reply & welcome to DU!

[AgingAmerican]

8. Privatization

Another name for fascim

[One_Life_To_Give]

10. Amtrak turns a profit on only four of its more than 40 routes,

By Repub business models it's a failed enterprise costing taxpayers $1.5 Billion/yr
IMO they view it as old tech and past it's useful life.